After Breakfast in the guesthouse I head for the Bus station and the 10am departure for Arica. This is another long ride, 22hrs. As the bus heads north the landscape turns barren. Gradually the vegetation becomes sparse. We climb up over a low hill and suddenly there´s no vegetation, just sand, rock and dust. We have entered the Atacama desert. This is a parched region, one of the driest on the earth. Yet for all that it looks beautiful. YOu could be on a different planet, Mars. The landscape varies. Sometimes its flat, sometimes there are mountains in the distance. We follow the coast occasionally before pressing inland for a while only to encounter the coastline again some while later. There aren´t many towns along this stretch. During the first 10hrs we pass through three, maybe four.
When we stop I make sure to get out and stretch. My ankles swelled after the last long journey and I´m afraid of it happening again. There aren´t many colours in the desert but plenty of different shades of brown, cream purple and pink. Contrasting these colours with the clouds and deep blue of the sky makes for some beautiful scenes. We travel through the desert for hour after hour
I don´t like this bus. Its hot, the air conditioning doesn´t work. The tv screens don´t work, the window beside me feels as though its about to fall out. It rattles constantly. Also, there´s an almighty stench from the toilet. However outside is a gorgeous sunset. darkness closes in rapidly. Around 10.30pm we reach Antofagasta, a large coastal city renowned for its busy port. Approaching the city in darkness makes for an impressive sight. The lights of the city sparkle as they sweep around a gentle arcing bay. They stretch up gradually inland uphill to a ridge overlooking the waterfront. In the distance we are confronted by an impressive array of golden light as though thousands of candles were flickering in the darkness ahead. We stop off here so I jump off, stretch and go to the toilet in the bus terminal.
We take on a lot of passengers here in Antofagasta. I had both seats to myself all day but now I´m joined by a middle aged lady. The bus is full now and the discomfort levels increase as the uncomfortably warm and sticky. Antofagasta lies on the tropic of Capricorn so we are set to enter the tropics now.
I´m wearing a t-shirt I´ve worn on the last two long haul journeys (60hrs). At this stage I don´t see the point in wearing clean clothes on ling bus rides. But I do think I´ve over done it on this occasion. As the humidity levels through the night I begin to wonder if the stench really was from that toilet..... or from my slick T-Shirt!! I become very self conscious in the dark. I try not to move, conscious of the waft emanating every time I move my arms. I cringe when the lady beside me turns away from me. Maybe that was just paranoia on my part.....I hope!! She falls asleep leaning against me and then begins to snore. I can´t sleep. I´m hot, sticky, smelly and afraid to move. It was so much simpler on the bike. I didn´t have to worry about being smelly around people. I didn´t have to be concerned with some elderly woman snoring on my shoulder. I fold my arms in a huff!!
I don´t sleep very well at all. I doze for short periods of time but keep waking up. I´m too hot and uncomfortable. I can´t wait to get to Arica. I tell myself when we get there I´ll stay for the day and just sleep wherever I get a bed.
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